Phototherapy relates to treatment of biological tissues, such as skin tissues, using visible, ultraviolet, and/or infrared lights. The light treatment may be applied solely for sterilization, pain relief, bio-modulation, and photo-rejuvenation. Alternatively, the treatment may be used in combination with certain photo-sensitive drugs or nutrition supplements. In comparison with laser surgery, the light intensity employed in phototherapy is much lower. Thus the light sources used in phototherapy are not limited to lasers but may include light emitting diodes (LEDs) and/or certain types of lamps as well. Typical applications of phototherapy include wound healing, cellulite reduction, skin rejuvenation, pain relief, fat reduction and contouring, laser acupuncture, pressure ulcer treatment, etc.
It is well known in the prior art that phototherapy may be applied in combination with mechanical massage. Some examples can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,382 to Lach; and U.S. Patent Application Nos. 20060253051 to Milne et al, 20060235494, 20040236252 to Muzzi et al, and 20070073366 to Porco. However, none of the prior art suggests to apply phototherapy with mechanical massage in a concerted manner, where phototherapy and mechanical massage are applied to the same target area and benefit from each other thereby producing significantly improved therapeutic results. Furthermore, none of the prior art discloses a compact phototherapy/massage wand design, which provides effective heat dissipation for the high power lasers/LEDs yet maintains a small size and weight that can be easily handled by the practitioner.